Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Board of Administration, the predecessor to the Office of the City Manager, was established by City Council on 16 July 1956. The by-law which did so (by-law no. 3584) and by-law no. 4017 (2 Oct. 1962), which is still valid with only minor amendment (as of 1999), express the responsibilities of the Board of Administration and its successor, the City Manager (thus named since 10 Sept. 1974), in almost identical language. The functions of the Board of Administration and its successor, the Office of the City Manager, can be summarized as follows: (1) Boards liaison. (2) City Council advisory and assistance. (3) City Council policy and legislation execution. (4) Financial supervision. (5) Public liaison for City Council. (6) Supervision of all administrative and operational units of the City of Vancouver. (7) Administration of the City's equal employment opportunity program. Predecessors of the Office of the City Manager were: the Board of Administration, 16 July 1956 to 10 Sept. 1974; the standing and special committees of City Council assigned to oversee the daily business of the City, 1886-1956. At the time of transition in July 1956, the Board of Administration replaced all eight standing committees and a number of special committees (PDS 10 1957). (For details on the protracted development of a Board/CEO management structure, see the essay in the Office of the City Manager inventory in the Reading Room.) The Board of Administration and its successor, the Office of the City Manager, have always reported to City Council. The internal organization of the Office of the City Manager and its predecessor evolved as follows. The first Board of Administration by-law (by-law no. 3584, 16 July 1956) called for the appointment of two Commissioners to comprise the Board (which, in practice was chaired by the Mayor from the beginning). On 8 Oct. 1957 (by-law no. 3660) the chair position of the Mayor was formalized, as was an alderman membership (appointed by the Mayor to serve as the Mayor's alternate). As of 2 Oct. 1962 (by-law no. 4017) the Board was to consist of only two Commissioners (again, legislation occurred some months after implementation; the Mayor was no longer listed as a member from 1961). On 10 Apr. 1973 (by-law no. 4691) the Board was reduced to a single Commissioner. That Commissioner, who was renamed City Manager on 10 Sept. 1974 (by-law no. 4794), had already had staff positions of Executive Assistant and Administrative Analyst from the Board of Administration period; the Executive Assistant position became a Deputy City Clerk position in 1977. The Equal Opportunities Office came under the jurisdiction of the City Manager in 1977. The Board/Manager, as responsible for the whole of the administrative and operational units of the City, was, of course, reported to by all City units except the boards (the Vancouver Library Board, the Vancouver Police Board, and the Board of Parks and Recreation). Name changes have reflected the composition of the Board/Manager body. For most of the period when the Board of Administration had two to four members, it was the "Board". About a year and a half after the "Board" was reduced to one Commissioner only the body was renamed the "City Manager" (10 Sept. 1974), and that official's unit was called the "Office of the City Manager". The following individuals have served as members of the Board of Administration. Mayor and Chair: Mayor Frederick Hume, 1956-1959; Mayor A. Thomas Alsbury, 1959-1962 (though the Municipal Year Book no longer lists the Mayor as of 1961). Aldermen (who acted as chair and voted in the absence of the Mayor): George C. Miller, 1956-1958; Jonathan W. Cornett, 1958-1959; H.D. Wilson, 1959-1960. Commissioners (two at a time): Frank Jones, 1956-1959; John C. Oliver, 1956-1965; Gerald Sutton-Brown, 1960-1973; Lorne E. Ryan, 1965-1974. The following individuals have served as City Manager: Lorne E. Ryan, 1974-1976 (in a seamless transition from the position of Commissioner which he'd held since 1965); Fritz Bowers, 1977-1990; Kenneth Dobell, 1990-1998; Judy Rogers, 1999- .